Re: A Conversation on the Economic Crisis: How To Do It? | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Craig Ragland (craigraglandgmail.com) | |
Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2008 19:25:06 -0700 (PDT) |
So, it seems there's some interest in this... would voice-only be enough? Other individuals or categories of people, you'd like to join as panelist? On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 10:44 AM, Raines Cohen <rc3-coho-L [at] raines.com> wrote: > > This is a very important topic, and I'm glad to see the Association > responding to the need in the movement for attention to this area. > While I'm deeply engaged in pre-election activities (including > dovetailing some Get-Out-The-Vote work with a family wedding in a > swing state), I'd be willing to take an hour out for an initial > conversation, sooner rather than later, with an eye towards a larger > series of conversations to follow after the election. > > I was just at the La Querencia cohousing grand opening in Fresno (CA) > on Sunday, and while it was heartening to see the beautiful > neighborhood risen from what was bare ground just fifteen months ago, > and a vibrant set of members in the process of moving in, with > cohousers from around the state gathering to show support, it was > clear that even some longtime group members were unable to buy the > units they had helped design -- because they couldn't sell their > existing homes for the prices they expected. > > I understand that Silver Sage, the senior/elder cohousing neighborhood > in Boulder, CO, had similar challenges when it was completed early > this year, with some members dropping out for similar reasons. It is > worth looking at the creative solutions members there explored and > employed to keep people involved in the community: renting out rooms, > joining as housemates or co-buyers. > > We can look to cohousing neighborhoods in cities that have already > experienced economic challenges for models of coping with downturns: > Touchstone in Ann Arbor, MI, for example, completed its initial phase > just as the largest employer left town, leaving it unable to sell > enough units to build the rest and pay for construction of a common > house. Delaware Street Commons in Lawrence, Kansas, rented out a bunch > of units that it couldn't easily sell. Mosaic Commons in > Massachusetts, like many new communities, is needing to complete some > cash sales to establish comparables before banks will rely on sale > prices to establish value for providing individual homeowner > mortgages. Even Doyle Street Cohousing in Emeryville, CA, the first in > the San Francisco Bay Area, took more than a year to sell its last few > units because it was completed just as a housing-market lull was > happening in the early 90s, yet it went on to eventually sell (without > discounting, to the best of my knowledge) and benefit from the rise > over the decade that followed. > > Absolutely, times like these can lead to fear of commitment: on the > part of group members, as well as the professionals we rely on: > developers, lenders, even cities. But we can find ways to help people > get over these barriers, tap resources they didn't know existed, and > get motivated and supported to move further along the path to > community. Nobody ever promised that the road to community would be a > primrose-lined expressway, paved with silk... it can be a long and > twisty road, with dragons lurking in hidden corners. > > Just as cohousing has benefited from its embrace of professional > development and conventional mortgage lending, it will be affected by > changes in the market, resource constraints, and external forces > affecting market dynamics. As Terri mentions, at the core we're > talking about Real Estate here, and location, location, location are > paramount; some markets will face different dynamics, with different > timing, moving opposite prevailing patterns. > > Cohousing seems to me to be well-positioned to thrive during down > times in the economic cycle, _IF_ we can be effective at both > understanding and communicating how it helps people live richer, > simpler lives, in less space, with less stuff, using less energy, and > learning more from and connecting more deeply with each other. > > At La Querencia this week, I had a brief conversation with a > professional cohousing developer about the potential to create loan > funds or other financing tools to help people buy cohousing units > before they can sell their existing homes; perhaps something in the > form of a silent second mortgage on both the old and the new homes, or > an equity-sharing arrangement that provides for recapture of future > appreciation. > > Betsy and I have already been working with a land-trust that is > creating permanently-affordable cohousing, preparing to provide > short-term bridge loans to advance down-payment assistance for the new > first-time homebuyers there, backed up by commitments from a bank > program (normally the member bank would cover the float, but they're > experiencing their own well-publicized challenges at the moment). > > And we and plenty of other cohousers have invested in the development > of other cohousing projects. > > The potential is there, if we're willing to reach out and embrace the > opportunity and collaborate to cocreate the tools that will get us > through this. > > Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach, Planning for Sustainable Communities > http://www.CohousingCoach.com/ > > at Berkeley (CA) Cohousing > _________________________________________________________________ > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/ > > > -- Craig Ragland Coho/US executive director http://www.cohousing.org craig [at] cohousing.org Please try email first, include your phone number (w/time zone) - or give me a call: 425-487-3550 (Pacific)... communicate!
- Two-tiered dues structure?, (continued)
- Two-tiered dues structure? Kay Wilson Fisk, October 8 2008
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Re: A Conversation on the Economic Crisis: How To Do It? Bob Morrison, October 8 2008
- Re: A Conversation on the Economic Crisis: How To Do It? Dirk Herr-Hoyman, October 8 2008
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Re: A Conversation on the Economic Crisis: How To Do It? Raines Cohen, October 8 2008
- Re: A Conversation on the Economic Crisis: How To Do It? Craig Ragland, October 8 2008
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